Ritchie McKay

Last updated

Ritchie McKay
Ritchie McKay 2014.jpg
McKay in 2014
Current position
TitleHead coach
Team Liberty
Conference C-USA
Record247–128 (.659)
Biographical details
Born (1965-04-22) April 22, 1965 (age 59)
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Playing career
1983–1987 Seattle Pacific
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1988–1989 Washington (asst.)
1989–1990 Queens (asst.)
1990–1991Seattle Pacific (asst.)
1991–1993 Bradley (asst.)
1993–1995Washington (asst.)
1996–1998 Portland State
1998–2000 Colorado State
2000–2002 Oregon State
2002–2007 New Mexico
2007–2009 Liberty
2009–2015 Virginia (assoc. HC)
2015–presentLiberty
Head coaching record
Overall412–286 (.590)
Tournaments1–3 (NCAA Division I)
3–2 (NIT)
5–3 (CIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Awards

Ritchie Lawrence McKay (born April 22, 1965) is an American basketball coach who is in his second stint as the head coach of the Liberty Flames of Liberty University. McKay for the last 6 seasons had been the associate head coach to Tony Bennett for the Virginia Cavaliers at the University of Virginia. He had previously been the head coach of New Mexico, Oregon State, Colorado State, and Portland State.

Contents

On April 3, 2009, McKay was hand-selected by Bennett and lured from his head coaching position at Liberty to become Associate Head Coach at Virginia. [1] On April 1, 2015, he returned as head coach of the Liberty Flames. [2] McKay holds the Liberty school record for single-season wins, with his team attaining a record of 30–4 (as of March 9, 2020) in the 2019–20 season after winning the ASUN Conference regular season and tournament championships.

Life and sports

McKay at Seattle Pacific University RitchieMcKay SPU.jpg
McKay at Seattle Pacific University

McKay got his first head coaching job with Portland State. After a poor first year, McKay led the team to a third-place conference finish in his second season. He used that success as a springboard to his next coaching job, this time at Colorado State. He stayed two seasons there before heading to Oregon State, and then another two at Oregon State before accepting the head coaching position at New Mexico. While there, he experienced mixed success. In 2005, his team won the Mountain West tournament and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. That successful season helped launch forward Danny Granger to an NBA career. Still, McKay couldn't turn New Mexico into a consistent program, and in February 2007, he was fired.

McKay then took a job at Liberty University, where he took the Flames to Big South Conference semifinals in back-to-back years. His second-year, with the help of Seth Curry, McKay led the LU to a Division I school-record 23 wins [3] and a bid to the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. [4] After the season ended, Curry transferred to Duke University, and McKay's longtime friend Tony Bennett was hired as head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers. Bennett then asked McKay to join his staff as his associate head coach, and McKay accepted. On April 1, 2015, McKay was selected to return to Liberty University as head coach. [2]

En route to a school-record 28 wins, McKay's Flames defeated the storied UCLA Bruins on their home court in Los Angeles by 15 points, prompting the immediate firing of UCLA head coach Steve Alford in December 2018, before the Pac-12 Conference season even began. [5] Ironically, it was Alford who had replaced McKay at New Mexico after his firing there nearly 12 years earlier. The following year, he was the 2019 recipient of the Jim Phelan Award. [6]

Personal life

McKay graduated from Westwood High School, and played college basketball at Seattle Pacific University, where he set the single-season and career record for steals, and he was third in career assists. McKay has a wife, Julie, daughter, Ellie, and sons Luke and Gabriel. [7]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
Portland State Vikings (Big Sky Conference)(1996–1998)
1996–97 Portland State 9–176–107th
1997–98 Portland State 15–1210–6T–3rd
Portland State:24–29 (.453)16–16 (.500)
Colorado State Rams (Western Athletic Conference)(1998–1999)
1998–99 Colorado State 19–117–7T–4th (Mountain) NIT Quarterfinals
Colorado State Rams (Mountain West Conference)(1999–2000)
1999–00 Colorado State 18–128–6T–4th
Colorado State:37–23 (.617)15–13 (.536)
Oregon State Beavers (Pacific-10 Conference)(2000–2002)
2000–01 Oregon State 10–204–14T–9th
2001–02 Oregon State 12–174–149th
Oregon State:22–37 (.373)8–28 (.222)
New Mexico Lobos (Mountain West Conference)(2002–2007)
2002–03 New Mexico 10–184–107th
2003–04 New Mexico 14–145–9T–5th
2004–05 New Mexico 26–710–42nd NCAA Division I Round of 64
2005–06 New Mexico 17–138–85th
2006–07 New Mexico 15–174–12T–8th
New Mexico:82–69 (.543)31–43 (.419)
Liberty Flames (Big South Conference)(2007–2009)
2007–08 Liberty 16–167–74th
2008–09 Liberty 23–1212–63rd CIT Quarterfinals
Liberty Flames (Big South Conference)(2015–2018)
2015–16 Liberty 13–1910–8T–5th
2016–17 Liberty 21–1414–43rd CIT Quarterfinals
2017–18 Liberty 22–159–9T–5th CIT Semifinals
Liberty Flames (ASUN Conference)(2018–2023)
2018–19 Liberty 29–714–2T–1st NCAA Division I Round of 32
2019–20 Liberty 30–413–3T–1st NCAA Canceled*
2020–21 Liberty 23–611–21st NCAA Division I Round of 64
2021–22 Liberty 22–1112–41st (East)
2022–23 Liberty 27–915–3T–1st NIT Second Round
Liberty Flames (Conference USA)(2023–present)
2023–24 Liberty 18–147–9T–4th
2024–25 Liberty 3–10–0
Liberty:247–128 (.659)124–57 (.685)
Total:412–286 (.590)

      National champion        Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

*The 2020 NCAA tournament was canceled due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018–19 Liberty Flames basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2018–19 Liberty Flames men's basketball team represented Liberty University in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games in Lynchburg, Virginia for the 29th consecutive season at Vines Center, with a capacity of 8,085. The team was led by Ritchie McKay, in his sixth season, but fourth season since his return to the program. They were first-year members of the ASUN Conference. They finished the season 29–7, 14–2 in ASUN play to share the regular season championship with Lipscomb. They defeated Jacksonville, North Florida and Lipscomb to be champions of the ASUN tournament. They received the ASUN's automatic-bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Mississippi State in the first round before losing in the second round to Virginia Tech.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019–20 Liberty Flames basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2019–20 Liberty Flames men's basketball team represented Liberty University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games in Lynchburg, Virginia for the 30th consecutive and final season at Vines Center, with a capacity of 8,085. The team was led by Ritchie McKay, who is in his seventh season, but fifth season since his return to the program. They are second-year members of the ASUN Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020–21 Liberty Flames basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2020–21 Liberty Flames men's basketball team represented Liberty University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team plays its home games in Lynchburg, Virginia for the inaugural season at Liberty Arena, with a capacity of 4,000. The team was led by Ritchie McKay, who was in the sixth season of his current stint as head coach and eighth overall. Liberty was a third-year member of the ASUN Conference. They finished the season 23-6, 11-2 in ASUN Play to finish in ASUN regular season champions. They defeated Kennesaw State, Stetson, and North Alabama to be champions of the ASUN tournament. They received the ASUN’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Oklahoma State.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021–22 Liberty Flames basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2021–22 Liberty Flames men's basketball team represented Liberty University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games in Lynchburg, Virginia at Liberty Arena. The team were led by Ritchie McKay, who was in the seventh season of his current stint as head coach and ninth overall. Liberty competed as a member of the East Division of the ASUN Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022–23 Liberty Flames basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2022–23 Liberty Flames basketball team represented Liberty University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Flames were led by Ritchie McKay in the eighth season of his current stint as head coach. They played their home games at Liberty Arena in Lynchburg, Virginia as members of the ASUN Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023–24 Liberty Flames basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2023–24 Liberty Flames basketball team represented Liberty University in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Flameswere are led by Ritchie McKay in the ninth season of his current stint as head coach. They played their home games at Liberty Arena in Lynchburg, Virginia as first-year members of Conference USA.

References

  1. Virginia assistant Ritchie McKay sees step down as a step up, accessed March 12, 2019
  2. 1 2 "Release on 4/1/15: McKay Returns to Liberty as Flames Men's Head Basketball Coach" . Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  3. McKay's departure newsadvance.com [ dead link ]
  4. CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament
  5. Steve Alford's UCLA run ends with Liberty rock bottom, Retrieved March 12, 2019
  6. Ackerman, Jon (April 5, 2019). "Liberty University's Ritchie McKay given Jim Phelan Award for top Division I head coach". Spectrum Sports. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  7. "Ritchie McKay". Liberty Flames . Retrieved January 3, 2020.